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Truant is a terrible terrible ability, meaning you pretty much only have one turn to attack and limited to hit and run tactics in 1 vs 1...and holy Arceus, Slaking's attack puts the almighty Pokemon creator to shame.

With STAB retaliate after a teammate has perished being base 210 power with a choice band behind it, its going to hurt everything not ghost, steel or rock and easily Slaking's second most powerful attack. Giga Impact is for 10 base power more oomph and pretty much destroy all physical walls unless they resist. The only issue is that you're trapped for your truant turn and can't switch which means you're going to be the most obvious set up bait of all time which could be the end of you so I'm not going to recommend it but there will be people who will use it regardless for the sheer audacity of destruction aka the physical version of Porygon-Z Hyper Beam.

for those three types, there are the appropriate coverage moves. Earthquake and Hammer Arm for Steels, Night slash for ghosts.

Return for a standard powerful STAB attack. Elemental punches are temping but remember a super effective elemental punch is still weaker than STAB Return. Pursuit is there to hunt down those terrified of King Kong's terrible onslaught.

Consider a choice Scarf if you want a greater revenger rather than avenger considering Slaking's good-but-not-that-great speed.

Last edited by Razor Shiftry; 4th August 2013 at 1:15 PM.

Beautifly are my Bishie!
hands off or my Beautifly's shall take you away and have their way with you!

Are you really serious 0danmaster0. Do you really think that Slaking would not need anything else beside Giga Impact.

Leaving that aside, the only ways i can think of neutralizing Slaking ability is to make it fight a pokemon with Mummy as its ability. Or else in a double or triple battle make one member use Gastro Acid on it.

Within double battles, a number of strategies can be used. Gastro Acid, Skill swap or Entrainment come to mind. Leavanny with Chlorophyll and Entrainment under sun is a potentially near-game breaking tactic. It is also resistant to Earthquake which Slaking would probably be using.

But then you have to remember that this requires at LEAST 1 spare turn to set up. Within the double battle metagame, its so fast paced and heavy hitting that this would be an incredibly high-risk - high-reward tactic. And then you have to remember that if you use skill swap, you'll need 2 turns to get rid of the inhibiting ability.

Basically, I would say just accept that fact that Slaking has arguably the worst ability in the game, there may be methods of removing it, but that takes time which you may not have. Play to his strengths and play him hit as hard as a truck and then run away to strike back at another point in the game.

Beautifly are my Bishie!
hands off or my Beautifly's shall take you away and have their way with you!

Slaking the King Kong of New Mauville, the Silverback of Petalburg, the... most terrifying lazy *** of them all.

Pros: Slaking is a behemoth. Having stats that rival legendaries, this monkey is packing serious heat. It has a whopping Base 160 Attack and a usable Base 95 Special Attack. In addition, being a normal type is a blessing for Slaking, giving access to the ridiculous move pool that is standard of normal types. Having access to not only a huge variety of TMs but move tutor moves as well it's move pool includes the following; The elemental punches, Night Slash, Return, Body Slam, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Hammer Arm, etc. It's physical move pool provides perfect coverage thanks to the elemental punches, and has enough variety to make catch-all counters rare. It's support move pool is decent, but for the want of one move, it is utterly useless. Defensively, Slaking is no slouch; having high HP and Defense, any non super effective physical assault will likely involve the death of several physical sweepers. Base 160 HP is high enough to allow Slaking to suck up a super effective physical attack or a special attack. Slaking sits at the golden butter zone of base 100 speed, allowing it to keep pace with some of OU's top threats.

Cons: Truant. This ability alone is why Slaking resides in the lowest usage tiers. Acting only every other turn allows many opponents to setup on Slaking and a lack of Feint in its move set means anything with Protect is guaranteed to beat Slaking. When I mentioned want of a single move in Slaking's support move set, I was referring to Skill Swap; had Slaking possessed this move, it would have been banned to Ubers. Truant is not Slaking's lone Achilles heel; base 65 Special Defense is poor, and Slaking will fall quickly to a dedicated special assault. Also, considering Slakings tend to carry choice items and truant, they do a lot of switching and having no resistance to passive damage, Slaking is worn down by entry hazards.

Overall, while Slaking is on the bottom of the usage charts in singles, I would expect to see a lot more of it in doubles. With attacks like Trouble Seed, Simplify, Gastro Acid, Entrainment, and Skill Swap, there are numerous ways for partners to unleash the beast within. Slaking is really a monster that works best with a friend.

I think it's pre evo deserves it's own section like syther had
Vigoroth is an unusual Pokémon. For a an NFE Pokémon it plays extremely differently from it’s evo. Vigoroth is the only member of the line that avoids the disastrous ability truant. As a result Vigoroth has managed to carve a role in NU. It can use evolite to get it’s defensive to a decent level. It’s still vulnerable special defense though.
Ability- Vital Spirit
Item- Evolite
Bulk up- Its main method of Stat boosting
Return- STAB attack
Earthquake – Main Attack to hit steels and rocks.
Sucker punch- with careful prediction allows you to surprise foes that would otherwise destroy you before you can cause any damage

Brick Break- Works in place of earthquake. Useful if you fear screens
Body Slam- A possible replacement for return has benefit of causing stat problems
Crush Claw- A possible replacement for return but no major use defense drop is seldom worth the bp loss
Slash- a risky move but could be useful if a critical hit. Depends if you feel lucky.
Low Kick- May out damage other steel hitting attacks if opponent is heavy
Low sweep- slows down opponents good is you want to help another team mate sweep but fairly weak base power.
Hammer Arm- Deals good damage but speed drop is annoying.
Slack Off- Main form of healing
Elemental Punches-Options to his specific foes but hard to fit onto sets. Ice punch is probably the most useful for it.
Gunk Shot- Not great coverage but high hits against grass types and neutrals
Yawn- a unexpected move that could force a switch.
Night Slash- useful against ghosts and dark types. But inferior to sucker punch generally

I only use this set when I have a pokemon with mummy ability in my team! (usually in UU where Cofragigus is more common!)
Slaking is a monster! Even if you can't pull the mummy ability trick, Slaking can punch holes everywhere. Pursuit is the best move that he can have because if your opponent has the ability Mummy, Pursuit will make sure that you get the ability! Return gets STAB and is strongest Normal-type move that doesn't require cooldown. Earthquake gives you coverage for Steel types that resist Normal type attacks. The last slot can be whatever you prefer for coverage, depending on your team.

Countering Slaking: Protect/Detect! These moves destroy Slaking if he has Traunt!

Partners: Cofragigus/Yamask (in lower tiers) are your best-friends!

I don't use "uber" Pokemon, I don't calculate stat values, I don't use cheating devices, I don't breed my way to perfection, and I don't care about natures. I catch my Pokemon the way they are, and treat them like individuals instead of brainless drones. If you use this philosophy, copy & paste this into your signature. (Started by Tyranitar)

Body Slam can get para hax, Giga Impact is useful only on slaking mainly, earthquake hits rocks and steels slaking would otherwise have trouble with, ice punch hits dragons for SE damage, night slash hits levitating ghosts who would take its stabs, be immune to earthquake and only take neutral damage with ice punch, overall this set has a large size range for coverage

I see a lot of people suggesting Giga Impact here. Let me just say that Giga Impact should never be used, even on Slaking. Truant may guarantee a turn of downtime, but at the very least you still have the option of switching on Truant turns. Giga Impact, on the other hand, does not afford you the same courtesy, as you'll be stuck doing nothing no matter what. Don't use Giga Impact. It ain't worth it.

Overview
Slaking has the 4th highest Attack stat in the entire game! Second highest out of the non-legendaries. It also has the 4th highest total base stat! At a whopping 670, trailing Mewtwo and Lugia by 10 and tying with Kyogre! It is probably the most OP non-legendary in the entire game, if it weren't for its mediocre of all abilities, Truant. A possible Uber, has been doomed to be in the NU tier, alongside its brother Regigigas.

So why use Slaking anyway? Well unlike the side effects of Giga-Impact, Truant allows you to use a move, then the next turn you actually have the option of switching Pokemon or doing some other command. Giga-Impact is still useless on Slaking, because you are better off hitting a STAB Choice Banded Return, then switching out, so you can live to kill off another Pokemon with Slaking. As smogon suggests, Slaking should be used as a hit and run machine. Cripple the enemy so another Pokemon can enter and either finish it off, or set up for a sweep.

Y U NO GIGA IMPACT??DON'T USE IT. Well as I stated before, you want to use Slaking for hit and run situations. Using Giga Impact means that you will be stuck in battle for another turn, meaning your foe can set up on you or take you out, and you want neither to happen. If you really just want Slaking as a suicide attacker, meaning if you really hate Torkoals and for some reason EQ is not enough, then go ahead and use Giga Impact to take it out, but you will have to suffer the consequences if the next enemy pokemon starts to set up on you.

Anyway back to the set. Earthquake is a must, alongside a STAB normal move gives you good coverage. You can choose to use only Return with a move of your choice, but never use Retaliate on its own, in case you are unable to revenge kill. Night Slash is good for coverage, and you should not be worried because nothing in NU has Justified. Shadow Claw is also usable, but only if you risk a foe's normal type to switch in. It is also good for UU or RU as using Night Slash in higher tiers risks giving the foe an unwanted Justified boost.

The ideal situation for Slaking, similarly to Regigigas is shedding that horrid ability. For double/triples or that lucky Cofagrigus that just happens to be on the enemy's team, use this set. After Skill Swapping away the ability, Slaking can start doing work. Start Bulking up and getting those hits in. Use Night Slash and EQ with Bulk Up. Or you could go the other way, and use Substitute and start launching Focus Punches, alongside a frenzy of other moves.

WHAT ABOUT MUMMY ABILITY?. Use Pursuit on the slippery undead sarcophagus. Whether Cofagrigus switches out or not, you catch the Mummy ability and shed Truant (do this ideally in Normal Singles battles). BUT WAIT. If your opponent is smart, they will stay in and afflict Slaking with a status, almost crippling it to becoming useless. Also, they could use Protect and you could waste a move, ruining your chance to get Mummy and forcing you to switch. Or, they can over predict thinking you have Night Slash, not Pursuit, causing them to switch and letting you get some extra damage on them. Just because they have their Cofagrigus on the field, does not equal Win/Win situation for you. Continue to be vigilant when you are using Slaking and never let your guard down.

Other Options
Focus Sash + Reversal + Flail.
Slaking has what it needs to get some powerful Flails and Reversals off. If you shed Truant, then use it alongside a Liechi or Salac Berry

Vigoroth
Vigoroth is like Sneasel. It can be used in doubles to help boost the attack of other pokemon. How? Well Vigoroth has a high enough Speed and low enough attack to help activate Tauros' Anger Point.

Honestly, if Vigoroth is able to live 1 turn in Double or Triples, use Focus Energy. Immediately after, start attacking the Anger Point Pokemon. Using Night Slash as often as possible. Use it over Slash if it does not-very effective damage. Use Slash only when it does not-very effective damage, as you don't want STAB Slash > Night Slash attacks on Tauros. Fury Swipes gives you more opportunities to get crits while still doing little damage as possible, but how you activate Anger Point is up to you.

Last edited by 2406Blackbird; 5th August 2013 at 3:50 AM.

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Slaking best friend and partner is by no means Cofagrigus and competive players will know why.
Battle story: Cofagrigus takes the lead taking a physical hit, the opponent will receive Mummy and you switch out to Slaking.
Your opponent will probably know what you are planning to do, but then you have Pursuit. That always gives safety to get that Mummy abillity even when your opponent switches out. This will make Slaking a force to be reckond with and hard to stop. This process will probably cost some life, and thats why he has Slack off, to restore the damage taken from the Mummy tactic. Body slam or either Return if you want Power over Para chance both will do heavy damage anyway. Brick break or EQ for coverage, I like brick break more as he might break reflects and can still hit many types very hard. EQ is for mostly the fire poks and elec poks so its a matter of preference here. Lum berry is for disabling Status effects like Para and Willo's who can otherwise completly stop him, it gives him the chance to sweep those poks that need two returns or body slams from him.

Kind of the Revenge killing Slaking, its kind of gimmic though, I recommand using this slaking at late-game.
But slaking can work really nicely when played well. Eject button removes it, once he has taking damage. Due truant in combination with high speed this can work excellent in his favor.
The rest is pretty obvious.

Smogon has an other metagame called 1v1. This is the beast set. I've won (po) tourneies with this thing.

Slaking @Choice Band
Adamant
Truant
252Atk 252Spe
-Giga Impact
-Night Slash
-Earthquake
-Drain Punch/Fire Punch/Ice Punch/Hammer Arm/Filler
This set is beast. since it's a 1v1 and you have truant anyway, giga impact lets you use the fullest extent of your power, night slash can break even deoxys-d (before he was banned) quake patches up your coverage, and the punch is optional, ice if dragonite is suspected to be in use or fire punch if genesect gave you trouble.

As someone who abused the daylights out of Slaking a while back, I have a bit of advice.

First, don't use Giga Impact; use Return or Double Edge instead. This has been mentioned before, but even though Slaking will be immobile during the recharge turn anyway due to Truant, it can't switch out while recharging. Double Edge offers 80% of the power that Giga Impact does, but it won't give your opponent a guaranteed free turn. If you're not a fan of the recoil, Return is still pretty powerful, and it again offers a more reliable Normal STAB. If you want that raw power, Retaliate comes really close to Giga Impact if you come in after an ally died.

Second, I actually think the Scarf set is better than the Band set, at least by a little. Here's why: Choice Band Pokemon are generally used as wall breakers. They thrive on drawing in walls and 2HKOing them with the appropriate move. Slaking can't do that due to Truant, and so it gives the opponent's wall a chance to recover or do whatever else they want during the recharge turn (again, that's a free turn that you're giving them). Now, it's true that Slaking's enormous Atk stat helps it turn 2HKOs into OHKOs more easily than many other Choice Band users, but even with that extra power, Slaking is still unable to OHKO some of NU's best physical walls like Tangela and Alomomola even with Adamant CB Giga Impact and Stealth Rock down. During the down turn, Pokemon such as these can do pretty much whatever they want, and they can just switch to a Normal resist when you get ready to throw the second punch (Alomomola and Tangela in particular can also recover health with Regenerator).

Now, Choice Scarf sets tend to play differently. Instead of focusing on breaking down walls (which, again, often requires the ability to 2HKO things), these sets often focus more on checking offensive Pokemon and switching out if they come up against something that can take their hits. Since Scarf sets are usually hit-and-run in general, Slaking's tendency to switch out during the Truant turn becomes much more natural. In addition, Slaking's high Atk stat gives it incredible ease in beating the powerful but less bulky offensive Pokemon in NU, and Retaliate suddenly becomes a great move for revenge killing. Just to put Slaking's power into perspective, Jolly Scarf Slaking's Double Edge is hitting a tiny bit harder than Timid LO Charizard's Fire Blast, and any NU player knows just how troublesome that Fire Blast can be. In addition, base 100 Spe is great for a Scarf user, since Slaking can outspeed key Scarf Pokemon like Jynx and Primeape.

Slaking. Something that should never be used. Why? Traunt. This "ability" prevents Slaking from moving every turn. Because of Traunt, Slaking's damage output is smaller than other Normal type physical attackers. Here's a list: Tauros, Snorlax, Bouffalant, Ursaring, Ambipom, Braviary, Sawsbuck, Granbull, Swellow, Staraptor, Stoutland, and most significantly, Cinccino.
Slaking does have one merit: a heavy hitting hit-and-runner. Forget to switch and you wasted a slot on your team.

It feels like it's been a while since I last posted a moveset for any Pokemon. Anyway, the emphasis is hit and run. Like many Choice sets, prediction is everything. Return is a must for the reliable STAB. For smacking ghosts, Night Slash and Shadow Claw are pretty much the same thing. However, Pursuit can smash a runner. For hitting Rocks and Steels, Hammer Arm is reliable and the negative effect is negated by the whole hit-and-run strategy. Focus Punch is heavier hit, if predicted correctly. Earthquake has more accuracy than Hammer Arm with the same power and is reliable, but watch for Ballooners and Floaters. Pursuit gets a second mention for the final slot for hitting runners. Fire Punch hits Steel floaters. Sucker Punch can give you the jump on a Sawk that's almost down to remove "almost". Giga Impact is a dangerous option for the user. If you use it, you can't switch out, so it makes Traunt even more debilitating, even though it uses the turn effected by Truant. However, Giga Impact is handy if Slaking is your last Pokemon since there's no way to switch.

Other Options:
Ice Punch and Thunder Punch are other options to hit floaters, but Fire Punch is more reliable.
Encore is an awesome move, but Slaking's wasting its offensive power with it.
Slack Off and Yawn are the same.
Retaliate can be awesome for revenge killing, something Slaking can find itself doing more often than not. However, because of Slaking's hit-and-run tactic, Slaking can find itself as the last Pokemon, making Giga Impact a superior choice.
Flail can be a great move on Slaking. Because Slaking is constantly switching in, entry hazards will be wearing this thing down and, in turn, powering up Flail.

Doubles and Triples:
Slaking is actually quite a threat when paired up with a teammate that has something like Gastro Acid, Worry Seed, or Simple Beam. Not common, but very potent. At the same time, Slaking can struggle in these situations because it lacks STAB multi-target moves. It does have Earthquake and Rock Slide.

Countering:
A strong Pursuit user is your friend. Keep entry hazards up as well. Alternatively, you can force Slaking to stay in the battle with Block or the like. A burned Slaking is a crippled Slaking.
Spiritomb can do all of these things.

Slaking...*heavy exhale*...what can we say...if you can work around Truant, you've got something really good...

Stats:
-HP - Incredible - Base 150 ties you in 7th place for highest HP with Giratina and Drifblim.
-Attack - Incredible - Base 160 ties you in 4th place for highest Attack with Regigigas.
-Defense - Great - Base 100 is really sweet with that huge HP.
-Sp.Atk - Good-bordering-Great - Base 95 is nice, but not as nice as that Attack.
-Sp.Def - Below Average-bordering-Bad - Base 65 is one of the weak links in Slaking's beefiness.
-Speed - Great (Non-Trick Room) - Base 100 Speed is very nice.

Like most Normal Types, you've got access to a wide variety of butt-kickery. What's better is that Truant opens you up to a very interesting ally in Singles that can get away with some of the same Moves: Zoroark. People see the monstrous Attacker Slaking and either switch out or use Protect/Detect. This opens them up next turn for a rude awakening. Notice that Night Slash, Low Kick, and Aerial Ace are in both Movepools, among others. Illusion is more than just Zoroark's Ability - it can be a huge asset to Slaking users, too.

Got Pokémon X. Intend to get either Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire.
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I enjoy how some of you say Giga Impact is bad and should never be used, yet in the very same post you go on about how gimmick Pursuit sets with a Cofagrigus partners are unstoppable.

Face it. Slaking is bad. Giga Impact's sheer power is undeniable, and much of the time Slaking is so tough it can survive a boosted hit to strike back even if something sets up on it. You can give your opponent a free turn staying in, or a free turn switching to something else. Team preview will prevent surprises so if you can't afford X to set up, well don't use Giga Impact (lol or Slaking at all). Not like you can't run multiple STABs.